Director Feng Xiaogang wants to dedicate a film to raising environmental protection awareness.

Feng outlined his plan on Wednesday at the inaugural ceremony for the Green Film Movement in Beijing. The campaign is part of the first ever environmentally-oriented film week in China, of which Feng is the jury president.

The director, whose popular works include "The Assembly" and "The Banquet," led a hundred or more attending filmmakers to sign a declaration, pledging to strength their efforts for environmental protection.

Feng says he is seeking opportunities to depict the issue in a new film.

Chinese film director Feng Xiaogang inaugurates the environmentally-oriented Green Film Movement in Beijing, on Wednesday, January 16, 2008. (photo: ent.163.com)

He also calls on other directors to do their part with their cameras, saying that even a one-minute short influences public opinion.

The environmentally-oriented film week will open on June 5, World Environment Day. A digital video competition will highlight the directors who come up with the best ideas for environmental protection. Many foreign feature films and digital videos covering this issue will be exhibited.

Filming of the festival opener, a film about saving water by director Jiang Xiaoyu, will begin in early February.

(CRI January 17, 2008)